1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an assembly formed by a box and a pallet for storage and/or transport of varied loads, capable of optimizing the use of useful space available thereto, thus keeping their stability and safety.
2. Description of Related Art
Pallets are structures normally used for temporary storage and/or transport of varied loads by means of forklifts trucks. In general, pallets are made of wood or plastic, and have a constructive arrangement, which, in certain situations, do not meet the functionalities and the desired requirements.
In view of these disadvantages, Brazilian patent application BR PI 0700676-4 discloses a pallet comprising dome shaped support elements associated with each other by means of a fabric, such as, for instance, raffia. These support elements consist of a light, flexible and compression-resistant material, such as, for instance, alveolar plastic. This innovative arrangement enabled a significant improvement in the static and dynamic stability provided by the pallet to the loads arranged thereon, and conferred high durability and reduced manufacturing costs.
This static stability is an important feature, especially when loads are stacked on the pallet. The constructive arrangement of the pallet disclosed in BR PI 0700676-4 enables that a maximum amount of loads is stacked without sliding, thereby offering stability and safety. With regard to dynamic stability, this pallet is capable of perfectly stabilizing on the forks of the forklifts trucks, thus avoiding sliding and slipping, and preventing any risks of damage to the load when pallets are moved on forklifts trucks. The design of the pallet has also taken into account other types of movement to which it is submitted during a production process, for instance, its transportation through a conveyor belt which moves horizontally and vertically.
Despite the advantages and benefits described above, it was verified that the very dimensions of the pallet limits its storage and transport capacity, resulting in the low utilization of the available space, especially when intending to store or transport high loads or in large quantities. In this type of situation, there is a need for relatively high availability of useful space (volume), that is, a volume that is sufficient for housing these types of loads without affecting their safety and stability (preventing them from falling/collapsing or spreading), which make it difficult to transport certain types of products, especially bulk products in large volumes.
Normally, a pallet having greater storage capacity requires a larger base area, which is obviously undesirable. On the other hand, if the base area of the pallet is reduced to occupy less space, its storage capacity is compromised, because, the smaller the area, the lower the total useful volume for the safe placement of load without having to resort to stacking.
Considering said restraints, studies, analyzes and tests were carried out proving that the storage and/or transport of high loads and/or in large quantities is possible without significantly modifying the structure and dimensions of the pallet originally disclosed in BR PI 0700676-4 or of any common and already known pallet.
Therefore, a possibility of improving the usability of such pallets was identified so as to make better use of their characteristics thereby maximizing all its usage potential and broaden its field of application.